


What Pain Remains

by Vibranch



Series: The, No Doubt, Long Awaited Kingdom Hearts Leon and Rinoa Stories [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Canon, Pre-Kingdom Hearts I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23553907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vibranch/pseuds/Vibranch
Summary: Leon's solitary patrol through Traverse Town was supposed to be just that, solitary. But after some consideration, he doesn't object when a local of the town asks to accompany him. Trained by Merlin, a mage like Rinoa should be a great asset. But opinions flare about how best one should heal each other.AKA: The, no doubt, long awaited reason why Leon has never been shown having a cure spell cast on him.
Relationships: Rinoa Heartilly & Leon (Kingdom Hearts), Rinoa Heartilly/Leon (Kingdom Hearts), Rinoa Heartilly/Squall Leonhart
Series: The, No Doubt, Long Awaited Kingdom Hearts Leon and Rinoa Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695124
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	What Pain Remains

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series now. Also the "AKA: The, no doubt, long awaited..." followed by some mundane, not at all long awaited, thing is probably going to be in the summary for every story in this series.
> 
> Because I think it's funny.

Leon leaned over the small brick wall separating the Accessory Shop from the rest of Traverse Town’s First District. He was bathed in the warm orange glow from the nearby lamps as a cool breeze chilled his skin. Taking long deep breaths with his eyes closed, Leon soaked in the Town’s atmosphere as he mentally prepared himself for rest of the coming night.

Leon’s Heart was still raw from the pain of having to flee Radiant Garden. He couldn’t forgive himself for what happened. He wanted to know how to make things right. Multiple times a day, he would wrack his brain for an answer, but none would ever come.

After a couple weeks on Traverse Town, he was nearly ready to accept there wasn’t a way to make things right. But _if_ there was, then he figured protecting this town was a good way to start.

Traverse Town was lucky. It may have been home to many refugees from the Heartless’s rampage, but the actual threat of the Heartless coming here was small. Leon figured they were too busy chasing after other Worlds to bother coming to Traverse Town. Or maybe, despite their mindless nature, they didn’t care to bother with their own leftovers.

That was fine with Leon. Even with the usually low appearance of Heartless, Leon had dreaded this night ever since he volunteered to watch the streets for signs of Heartless activity. But it wasn’t injury or the appearance of the Heartless that he dreaded so much. It was the possibility of what came after that made his Heart hammer harder in his chest. He wanted to prove to himself, to others, to someone or something that mattered, that Radiant Garden’s fall wasn’t his fault.

 _But wasn’t it?_ As far as Leon knew, he and Cloud had been the only ones fighting to make it off World. Surely, if he had managed to escape and survive, that meant he could’ve given more to the defense of his home.

Right…?

Leon shook his head, trying to shake away these invasive thoughts from his mind. They were unhelpful and _probably_ untrue, but the thoughts would still come for him every now and then. And his Heart still felt weighed down at the possible answer.

“I heard you were going to go on patrol tonight.”

The words cut through the chilly air, taking Leon by surprise. He turned around to see one of the locals of Traverse Town, a young woman named Rinoa Heartilly, standing behind him. She’d become a not too uncommon observer of his, occasionally watching as he shadowboxed with his Gunblade in the secret Cavern underneath Merlin’s House.

Leon looked her over cautiously, trying to determine what she wanted without having to ask. “Yeah, I am,” he eventually said.

She smiled at the answer. “Oh good. I was hoping maybe you’d let me tag along. Merlin says I’m pretty good at magic, and that I’m ready to start using it in real combat.”

“Why with me? You could sign up for your own patrol.”

Rinoa looked down at the cobblestone ground and drew circles into it with the toe of her boot. “Well… Merlin said I’m good but… He’s still nervous about me going by myself.” Rinoa bit her lip as she forced herself to keep talking. “And truth be told, I’m a little nervous myself. So, I thought maybe some backup would be good. You know, in case I bite off more than I can chew.”

Leon crossed his arms, considering her request.

Rinoa waited quietly for a response. She could practically see the gears turning in his head. “I could be really helpful. With a powerful mage like myself on your side, your strength would effectively be doubled.”

More silent consideration. Despite the mundanity of what they were going to do, a simple 2 hour walk through Traverse Town looking for Heartless, Leon seemed to be considering her request with the utmost seriousness. But that was fine by Rinoa. She hated it when people didn’t take her seriously.

Leon let out a sigh and uncrossed his arms. “Alright, you can come with me, just don’t blast me with any magic,” he said, recalling how she’d once lifted him into the air sent him flying into the lake outside Merlin’s House with an unintentional aero spell once.

“Really?” Rinoa nearly jumped in excitement. “You got it! You can count on me!”

“And be careful!” Leon said sternly trying to calm her down as she ran off ahead of him. Leon watched as she greeted the people from the previous patrol, now finally returning to the First District.

He gripped the handle of his Gunblade, feeling his nervous Heart beating down his arm and against the still weapon. He took one final deep breath and followed after her, officially beginning his job.

***

Rinoa and Leon chased after a small Blue Rhapsody Heartless. It was an insignificant form of Heartless for the most part, barely a threat, but Leon was in no mood to take chances with any Heartless they might come across. An instinctual fear deep in his Heart told him that if any got away, it could encourage more to show up.

So, they ran through town. From the alleyway behind the hotel, through the Second District, and into the Third, until at last they cornered it.

With no place left to run, the Heartless fired a small, yet sharp, ice crystal towards Leon. A sudden attack, but still easily dodged as Leon deftly sidestepped it and slashed the Heartless in two. The two halves hung in the air for a moment before puffing into a cloud of dark smoke.

With a bit of satisfaction, Leon rested the dull side of his weapon on his shoulder and turned back to Rinoa. “Sorry for the run around, but at least we finally got it,” he said, but the satisfaction in Leon’s voice didn’t last for long. Quickly, it turned to concern as he noticed a small cut on Rinoa’s upper arm. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, approaching her and trying to gauge just how injured she was.

“Huh?” Rinoa took a moment to look at herself. It didn’t take long before she noticed the small trickle of blood coming from her arm. “Oh this? I think it was from that last ice attack it sent your way.”

“Oh,” Leon realized he hadn’t accounted for someone to be standing behind him as he sidestepped the sharp shard of ice that had been fired at him. “Sorry, I should’ve blocked it. I’m not used to having someone with me during a patrol.”

“Oh, it’s no problem! I’m fine, really!” Rinoa brought her hands up, trying to reassure Leon. “Besides I can take care of it easily. I’ve gone over Cure spells with Merlin so many times now that it’s not even funny,” she said, a green aura beginning to emit from her hand.

“Hey, hold on!” Leon said just as she was about to bring the healing magic to the small cut on her arm. His words came out louder than he meant, but at least it got her attention.

Rinoa looked over at him, the green cure magic that had been building in her hand now gone.

Leon pulled a bottled potion from his pocket. “Take this. It’s my fault you got hit. And you should save your energy. Cures can really take a lot out of people.”

Rinoa scrunched her nose at the sight of the bottle. “Uhh, no thanks. I’ll be alright without it.”

An odd reaction, but Leon didn’t pry. “Just take it,” he said, taking another few steps towards Rinoa.

Rinoa backed up just as many steps. “I said, no thanks.”

“I insist.”

“Really Leon, I don’t want it!” Rinoa yelled, catching Leon off-guard. Without wasting another moment, she focused the magic into her hand and passed it over her arm.

The small cut vanished, leaving no sign there had ever been a wound. Rinoa looked up at Leon with a proud grin. “See? I’m fine.”

Leon gave a sigh of defeat as he slipped the bottle back into his pocket. “Alright. But I have these potions so let’s try to use them. I want you able to cast magic even in emergencies. No, _especially_ in emergencies.”

Rinoa rolled her eyes. “Sure,” she said in a tone that was as equally dismissively as any of Leon’s _whatever’s_ ever were.

Leon blinked in surprise, but aside from that and his usual silence he otherwise showed no response. He stood behind as Rinoa began walking ahead of him. “So that’s what that feels like,” he mumbled to himself.

***

Leon knelt on the ground, cradling his injured arm with the other. Under his breath, he let loose a string of curses that would’ve turned anyone from Radiant Garden pale. Fortunately, Rinoa was the only one nearby, and she wasn’t from Radiant Garden. So, it only sounded like nonsense to her. Despite that, she’d apparently found another reason to be angry.

“Why didn’t you dodge?!” Rinoa yelled at Leon. “You had all the time in all the Worlds to get out of the way! That Heartless was just charging blindly forward”

Leon couldn’t tell which was worse, the pain coming from his arm, or Rinoa’s anger being directed towards him. Neither felt good. “You were behind me,” he explained, gritting his teeth as his arm throbbed.

“I can take care of myself. Don’t go getting yourself killed just because you think I’m not taking any of this seriously!”

“I didn’t say that you couldn’t, I just don’t want to repeat what happened last time. I moved too suddenly and you got hurt.”

Rinoa’s frustration flared. “I only got hurt because _I_ was the one that messed up! And it was so small, I didn’t even notice that I got hit.”

Leon was quiet. Gone was his annoyance at the girl lecturing him. Now replaced with a feeling of foolishness. Perhaps he _had_ been overprotective? It was hard for him to tell how far he should trust others to take care of themselves lately. Faces flashed through his mind. People he trusted to be able to take care of themselves, only to never be seen again. Or worse, unnerving moments when Heartless used combat habits and flourishes that Leon recognized from others.

Rinoa let out her anger with a sharp sigh that snapped Leon’s attention back to her. “Listen, thank you for standing between me and the Heartless, okay? But I don’t like feeling like dead weight. I know I’m newer to this than you are, but try to have a little confidence in me. If it comes down to a matter of saving yourself _or_ saving me, trust me to save myself.”

Leon nodded, but otherwise didn’t respond. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the potion from earlier.

“Oh, why don’t you save that for later,” Rinoa said as she focused healing magic to her hands. “I’ll cast cure on you. Consider it my actual ‘thank you’ and a demonstration of what I can do.”

If Rinoa hadn’t already been looking at him, she wouldn’t have noticed the sudden wince and increased tension in Leon’s body from her suggestion.

“Are you okay?” she asked, stepping closer to him. She wondered if maybe it was a reaction from the pain of his wound?

He stepped back from her, his eyes focused intensely on the green glow emanating from her hand. “I-I’m fine. Really you don’t need to do that.” Leon said, before quickly gulping down his potion so that any healing Rinoa could’ve done would now be in vain.

Rinoa was more confused than upset by Leon’s reaction and dismissal of her help. She looked him over, studying him as if his body held the answer to the question she was developing. “Do you not like cure or something?” she finally asked.

Leon’s body tensed once again at the question. “No. I’m fine with them,” he said in a voice that wasn’t nearly as indifferent as he’d hoped it would be.

“If you say so… It’s just that, you seemed to really not like the idea of me casting cure on either myself or you.”

“Well, what about you?” he deflected, “do you have a problem with potions? They’re a liquid cure, it just takes a second to kick in.”

“I guess so?”

Leon hadn’t expected that answer. He expected her to take annoyance, or even offense, at his deflection. “You don’t know?”

“No, it’s just… I’ve never really had to talk about it before.” Rinoa’s voice was quiet. Her eyes slowly drifted away from Leon and apparently found comfort in some dark corner she stared towards. “Can I be honest about something?” she whispered.

Leon was silent for a moment. “Sure.”

It was a non-comital answer. Less of a _yes_ and more of a _wasn’t-a-no_. But honesty was key, even during simple missions like this. If people were likely to get hurt, then everyone needed to be able to speak freely about anything.

“When I first got to Traverse Town, I got sick. I mean, _really_ sick. I was laid up in bed for a month.” Rinoa clutched her stomach as she recalled the waves of nausea from long ago. “A whole month of not knowing where I was, where my parents were, or even how I got here. It felt like I was dying the whole time.”

“I’m sorry, that sounds… hard.”

Rinoa nodded. “I couldn’t even eat solid food for most of it. I mean, I _could…_ But it’d come back pretty shortly after.”

Leon closed his eyes, trying to prevent the mental picture from forming in his mind. “I get the idea.”

“Anyway, since I couldn’t eat, Merlin gave me a lot of potions to compensate. I know it sounds kind of childish, but ever since then I’ve hated potions. The taste, the smell, everything about them just reminds me of that month stuck in bed in a town I’d never heard of and wondering where my parents went.” Rinoa’s voice trailed off. “But I guess that’s a question that’ll never get answered.”

Leon was silent, not knowing what to say. But he figured if she was sharing this about herself, then the least he could do was explain himself too. “I don’t dislike the cure spell.”

“Huh?” Rinoa turned to look at Leon.

“You asked me if I disliked cure. I don’t, it’s a really important spell to know. I just…” Leon clenched his teeth. “I just can’t… It’s hard to explain, but…” Leon let out a breath and decided to try starting over. “If someone fancies themselves a mage, then they should at least know it in case anything happens.”

Rinoa nodded and looked at him curiously, her eyes getting caught on the scar adorning his face. She knew Aerith was handy with the cure spell, she’d seen her use it on Yuffie whenever the small ninja would trip and skin her knee. So, why was Leon the only one who had any sort of prominent injury compared to the others? And in such a easy to notice place…

Leon had been silent for a while. And when it became clear that he couldn’t think of anything more to say, Rinoa spoke again.

“I don’t really know what happened, Yuffie and Aerith have told me a little, but I figured after what happened to your home, you’d be nervous around danger and the Heartless. But instead, you seem so fearless. If someone asks you to patrol Traverse Town alone, you’ll do it. And if you get saddled with an inexperienced partner, you’ll do that too. And you’ll keep saying, ‘whatever’ like it’s no big deal. But when I mention the cure spell, you tense up like _it’s_ the thing that’s going to hurt you.”

Leon swallowed hard as he looked at the ground. “Radiant Garden fell, that’s a fact. And I had to run, that’s also a fact, I couldn’t stop it from happening. But I tried… I tried so _hard_ to stop it!”

Leon paused to pull himself together. He looked back up to Rinoa. She continued to watch him. There was a hint of sadness to the way she looked at him, but that original curious look never faded either.

“And because I tried, that meant I got hurt. A lot. Over and over. And every time, some white mage would look me over, cast a cure of some level or another, and then tell me to rush back out there. But no matter how hard I fought, I kept getting hurt and found myself waking up to another cure spell. And every time, the number of people in need of healing got smaller and smaller. I don’t know how many times I was healed, but eventually all I could think when someone would cast cure on me, was just how much I didn’t want it.”

“You didn’t want to be healed?”

“People call cure a spell for healing, but it’s not. Healing implies that you’ve recovered from your wounds, but… Damn it! I don’t know, it’s just different.” Leon cursed, hating how useless he was at even explaining himself.

“I kind of get it… Cure skips that part, huh?” Rinoa finished for him. She walked towards him and lifted his arm. Gently, she traced the part of Leon’s arm that had once been an open wound, now not even his skin was even slightly discolored, much less a scar. “You don’t really get a chance to _recover_ from your wounds, it just makes the wound itself go away, almost like it was never there in the first place. But you still remember it.”

Leon stared at her in disbelief. “Y-yeah…” he whispered. His eyes settled on the part of her arm that had been nicked by the Heartless’s ice spell and remembered how his gut lurched with concern even from that tiny wound. “How were you not scared when you got hurt?” he asked. “Just a little more to the side, and it could’ve struck you in the chest.”

Rinoa looked amused by the question. “It barely got me. It would’ve had to travel really far to pose that kind of danger,” she said, drawing an imaginary line with her finger from the outside of her arm to the center of her chest.

Leon was quiet. He didn’t like the answer. He thought of familiar faces who’d also seemed fine before a stray shot _barely_ got them too.

If either of them were going to say something, it was cut off as the bell tower in the Second District rang, marking the end of their two hours.

“Guess our time’s up,” Leon said before Rinoa could continue the previous conversation. “You should start heading back, I’ll stick around a little longer and make sure there aren’t any surprises waiting for the next patrol.”

“You sure? Want me to stick around?”

Leon shook his head. “No, I’d like be alone. I think I’ve said enough, anyway.”

She watched him carefully for a moment, but eventually accepted the statement. “Okay, thanks for letting me tag along.” Her voice was quiet and lacked the energy Leon had come to expect from her.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Leon rested his head in one hand and let out a sigh. He wondered why he told her all that, he hadn’t even told anyone from Radiant Garden about it.

Better yet, he wondered what he was supposed to do with the information she told him. She couldn’t stand potions, and the thought of a cure spell made him tense up far more than any Heartless did.

Leon pressed his palm harder into his face as he realized she was probably going to ask to join him on his next patrol.

"What a fine partnership we are..."

***

“Dear boy, are you looking for something specific?”

Leon looked up from the pile of books he was rummaging through, and found Merlin’s curious gaze observing him from behind the small round spectacles adorning his face.

Leon glanced back at the pile of books on Merlin’s floor before speaking. “Sorry, it’s nothing important. I was just looking for something to read.”

Maybe some light reflected off his glasses, or perhaps Merlin could make light shine from his eyes. Either way, Leon could’ve sworn he saw Merlin’s eyes twinkle from his answer. “It’s not often you come to look through my spell books.” The wizard said with a smile. “But are you sure a spell book is what you want? I’m sure I’ve got a book of fiction somewhere around here that should be more entertaining for you to read.”

Leon hummed a no as he went back to the pile of books lying on Merlin’s Floor. “I’m not really looking for a story. Just something to…” Leon started to lose his train of thought as he pulled out a book titled, _Whyte Magicks: A Primer to the Curative Arts._

Leon raised an eyebrow at it. The wording was a little archaic, but it seemed to be exactly what he was looking for. “Just something to read when I can’t sleep,” he finished.

Merlin squinted at the cover of the book Leon held. “Oh, I believe I used this while tutoring Rinoa.” The wizard chuckled to himself. “White magic, eh? You struck me as someone who’s interests would lean closer to the _darker_ arts. Cure is one of the harder spells to learn. You might find fire or blizzard to be a bit more intuitive to get to grips with.”

“Whatever.” Leon said. He gestured over to his Gunblade resting on the wall. “I’ve been trained to use that for offense rather than magic. And besides, I’m just looking for something that’ll put me to sleep that’s all.”

Merlin didn’t look entirely convinced, but chose not to push the subject. “If you say so, Leon.”

Leon looked back down at the tome in his hand. It was a heavy book but the knowledge it contained weighed heavier to Leon.

***

A week had gone by, and just as Leon had predicted, Rinoa approached him and asked to accompany him on his patrol through Traverse Town again.

She was dressed the same as last time. Or if she wasn’t, Leon couldn’t tell. The only difference he could notice from how she was a week ago, was the satchel she wore over one shoulder. When Leon asked her what it was for, she just waved it off and said she brought it to carry some things.

Leon didn’t feel like prying any further.

“You’re hurt again,” Leon said after they finished taking out a group of Heartless. He pointed towards the small cut on her arm. Almost in the same place as last time.

Slowly Rinoa touched it. Pulling her hand away to examine the blood on her fingers. “Huh, I guess so. I wonder why I keep not noticing?”

“It was another ice spell, so it could be numbing your arm as cuts you. You’d probably notice it if it cut you deeper.”

Rinoa looked closer at the wound. Now that Leon had mentioned it, the area around it was awfully cold to the touch too. “That’s freaky, but at least it’s nothing a cure can’t fix.” She smiled at Leon, her hands once again began to glow green.

“Hey, hang on a sec.” Leon interrupted, extending an arm to stop her from the spell.

Rinoa looked annoyed at him. “I told you last time, remember? I don’t want a potion. You can save them for yourself.”

“That’s fine, I’m not offering one.”

Rinoa arched an eyebrow at the man. Her eyes quickly grew wide in shock as he removed his gloves and a faint green glow emanated from his hands. “Are you…?”

Leon placed his hands just above the cut on Rinoa’s arm, and used what he’d been reading about over the past week. “It might not look like it, but magic can be really draining. I’ve seen a lot mages-in-training pass out because they didn’t account for how much energy spells take to cast,” Leon explained, “so, if you’re not going to drink a potion, at least let me cast a cure every now and then.”

When Leon pulled his hands away, Rinoa’s wound had scabbed over. Leon looked at his hands and back to the scab a few times. It was certainly better than what it used to be, but not as fully healed as Leon had hoped.

Rinoa smiled at him. “If the base level of the spell is called _cure_ , and the higher version of it is called _cura_ , then I’d call what you just did a _cu_ ,” she said before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

Leon felt his face heat up, “Wh-whatever…” he said, trying to deflect her joke.

Rinoa’s smile grew wider. “But you know what? You’re sweet, Leon,” Rinoa said, drawing Leon’s attention back to her. “Cure’s are difficult, but you did a good job. It’s only been a week since we last went on a patrol and you’re already able to do this. You must’ve been thinking about me a lot.” Her eyebrow wiggling at her suggestion.

“Whatever,” Leon said again, turning away before she could see his face get even redder. “We need to work together, that means I’m relying on you to not be completely exhausted when the time comes. So at least rely on me to do some healing too.”

“Then…” Rinoa began, circling around him so she could see his face. “Would it be alright for me to cast cure on you too?”

Leon was silent for a moment. “No.”

Surprisingly, Rinoa’s lips curled upwards. “That’s what I thought you’d say.” She dug into the satchel she had slung around her shoulder. “Fortunately, I brought some of these!” she said, revealing with pride a bottle of healing potion.

Leon stared at it in surprise. “I thought you hated potions. Why do you have-?” Leon began.

“As the magic caster, my hands are free. And since you wouldn’t accept a cure last time, I figured I could at least bring a supply of potions, just in case.”

Leon looked at her, unable to hide his appreciation. The uncommon expression wasn’t lost on Rinoa. She beamed at him with a wide smile as she bounced on her toes.

“Oh, and one more thing, Leon.” Rinoa began. “Are there any extenuating circumstance that you’d be alright with if I were to cast cure on you?”

Leon considered it. “If it can be avoided, I’d rather you didn’t. If it’s an emergency or I’m in the middle of a fight and there’s no time, I guess it would be fine. Or if I’m unconscious and you’re out of potions. Otherwise I’ll just live with any injury I have.”

“Okay, sure. Just wanted to know.”

A loud crash in the distance ended their conversation. They both looked up and then looked at each other.

“Rinoa, let’s go!” Leon said running off in the direction of the sound.

At the source of the noise, they found an imposing Heartless. More human shaped and muscular than most. But what was most unique about it, was that it held a sword of its own in one hand.

Rinoa looked over to Leon. His body was tensed tightly in a defensive position, almost as if she’d just threatened to cast cure on him again. It was the least at ease she’d ever seen him around a Heartless. Not that she could really blame him, it was also the most intimidating looking Heartless she’d ever seen. But seeing how much of an affect it was having on Leon, made it even more intimidating to Rinoa.

“I’ve seen this kind of Heartless before. Back home on Radiant Garden, just before it fell.” Leon cast a quick glance behind himself towards Rinoa. “It’s called an Invisible. Be careful, they’re extremely dangerous, so keep your distance.”

Rinoa barely had time to make sound of affirmation before Leon charged at it.

Determined to make the first strike, Leon moved quickly, the tip of his Gunblade dragging along the ground and kicking up sparks. The Heartless effortlessly blocked his rising slash and prepared an attack of its own. This time Leon parried, then swung at it again.

This back-and-forth continued for some time. Rinoa watched trying to find a moment to help. But Leon was too aggressive. She was having trouble finding a good moment to attack with one of her spells without him either jumping in the way of it or getting caught in the crossfire.

Eventually, the Heartless got the upper hand. It parried Leon’s strike before swiftly lunging at him. Leon was in a bad position and didn’t have time to dodge. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.

When nothing happened, he opened his eyes. A hexagonal dome of light magic surrounded him and protected him from the blade intended for him.

Beams of light erupted from the protective dome, blasting the Heartless away from Leon. As the dome slowly dissipated, Leon turned his attention towards Rinoa.

Her hands were still outstretched towards him; remnants of the magic she’d cast still glittering from her fingers. She gave Leon a look of her own that was equal parts, _What? You weren’t worried, were you?_ and _that was_ too _close_.

Leon cracked a smile at her expression. “Was that a Reflect spell?”

“Yup, took me awhile to get it down, but I bet you’re glad I did.”

A chuckle escaped from Leon. “Maybe a little.”

The invisible returned and resumed its duel with Leon. But now Leon made concessions for Rinoa as he attacked. Choosing to not rush in at every opening the Heartless gave him, Leon instead waited for Rinoa to unleash a few quick spells before continuing his offensive. Through their combined strengths, it looked certain that the Heartless had would soon fall.

That changed when something slammed into Rinoa from behind.

Looking back, a group of Air-Soldier Heartless had gathered above her. Rinoa wondered if the main Heartless had somehow called for backup, but she didn’t have much time to spend thinking before the group was upon her again, kicking and clawing wherever they could.

At some point Leon must have noticed the new Heartless too. “Rinoa! You just focus on the small fry for now!” he called out to her. “I’ll handle the big one!”

Rinoa wanted to argue, but one Air-Soldier grabbed her satchel and attempted to fly off with it. The contents of the bag spilled out onto the ground as the strap strained against the underside of her shoulder.

She didn’t like it, but Rinoa realized she couldn’t help Leon _and_ fight off all these Heartless at the same time.

She fired off a myriad of spells ranging from fires to thunders. But aside from the one trying to carry off with her bag, the Air-Soldiers were too fast and difficult to hit.

In the background, the ringing sound of steel clashing against steel from Leon’s fight with the Invisible echoed behind Rinoa. The noise set her on edge and made it nearly impossible for her to focus. In her desperation, she began firing blindly, each spell draining more and more of her energy as she tried to finish them off as quickly as possible.

Finally, an ice spear from one of her blizzard spells pierced one of the Air-Soldiers. Then a fire ball collided with another. And a bolt of thunder with another.

Rinoa wiped at some sweat pooling on her forehead. If she could keep this up, then she might be able to wrap this up quickly and be back to helping Leon fight the Invisible.

Despite her growing confidence however, more of Rinoa’s strength vanished with each spell she cast. _Leon wasn’t kidding about how surprisingly exhaustive magic can be,_ Rinoa thought to herself.

The thought of Leon finally convinced Rinoa to look back and see how he was doing. It was only a brief distraction, but a single Air-Soldier saw its chance. Rinoa didn’t have time to react before it knocked her to the ground. The force of the blow, combined with her ever growing exhaustion, made her body feel like one big struck funny bone.

Rinoa looked up, expecting to see the Heartless that attacked her. But instead she found the Invisible Squall was supposed to be fighting looking down at her. Her heart stilled as she got lost in its soulless glowing yellow eyes. The moment seemed to stretch on for far too long and yet not long enough, before it raised it sword and prepared to swing.

In a flash, Leon was by her side, his Gunblade held in the way of the Invisible’s sword. Rinoa noticed how heavy his breathing was, as well as the myriad of shallow cuts on him.

Leon looked down, their eyes meeting for the briefest of moments, then he was back to death glaring at the Invisible standing before them.

In one swift movement Leon tossed the Invisible’s sword aside and rammed his Gunblade through the Heartless. With the Invisible fading away, Leon fell to one knee and tried to catch his breath.

“Look out!” Rinoa yelled, pointing over towards an Air-Soldier. Leon lazily moved his head to see what Rinoa was yelling about, but lacked the energy to do anything before it barreled into him.

A loud thud was heard as Leon’s head collided with a wall, knocking him out.

Rinoa’s breath hitched. A scary calm came over her as she stared at Leon’s unmoving body. The world seemed to move in slow-motion around her.

She stood up and fired upon the Heartless with a frightening accuracy she could only have wished she’d had earlier.

One by one, each Air-Soldiers vanished into smoke. Rinoa placed her shots instinctually. No longer aiming where they currently were, she aimed for where they were going to be. A blizzard here, a fire there, she even threw in an aero at one point and eliminated two at once by blowing one Air-Soldier into another at high speed. She almost couldn’t believe it when she took out the last Heartless.

Now that she was finally safe, Rinoa suddenly felt all the exhaustion hit her at once and fell to the ground. Her head pounded as the world around her seemed to spin uncomfortably fast.

Placing a hand against her head, she closed her eyes and hoped the spinning would stop. The world _did_ seem more stable when she finally opened her eyes, but not by much.

“Leon…?” she mumbled, looking over to where she’d last seen him.

He was still lying on the ground. Unable to tear her eyes away from his unmoving body, Rinoa felt her Heart reverberate through her body and became the only remaining reminder of the passage of time.

She tried to force herself back up, but her legs were numb and useless to her. She considered casting cure on herself so that she could run to him. But when she brought her hands up and willed what energy she had into them, the dizziness returned tenfold. She realized that she’d probably pass out as soon as she cast the spell.

But if she couldn’t cast cure on herself, and if she couldn’t walk to him, what could she do to help?

Rinoa’s hand brushed against smooth round object. Whatever it was, it looked familiar, but there was such a fog in her head that it took her a moment before she could recognize it.

“A potion…?” she said, her voice little more than a dull whisper. She stared at it a while until finally recalling the Air-Soldier that had inadvertently dumped all her potions on the ground.

An idea occurred to her. Leon wouldn’t be able to drink a potion in his condition, and casting cure on herself was likely going to cause her to pass out. But, Rinoa realized, _she_ could drink the potion and use what energy it brought her to cast cure on Leon instead.

Rinoa took a deep breath and brought the potion to her lips. The scent of it invaded her nose. It reminded her of disease, like the taint of vomit on one’s breath that invaded the tongue and drifted through the nose with every breath. Her stomach lurched as she drank from it, her tongue screamed at her to spit it out. It took her a half-second of the liquid just sitting in her mouth before she willed herself to swallow it.

The worst of it was over. She could already feel the energy slowly returned to her legs. Certainly not as fast as a cure spell would’ve been, nor as effective, but it was enough. She forced herself to stand and walked unsteadily towards Leon.

“Hey… You okay?” Rinoa asked, unable to tell if the question was intended as joke or if she was really checking to see if Leon’s still clearly unconscious body was still awake.

Regardless of her unclear intentions, Leon stayed motionless and quiet.

“Yeah, that’s what you always say,” Rinoa said to his unconscious form. _Okay, that one was definitely a joke,_ she admitted to herself.

She leaned over him as a green glow slowly gleamed from her hands. “I know you don’t like this spell very much. But I don’t think there’s much else I can do for you.” A flower bloomed in the air above Leon. As it disappeared, so too did his wounds.

Leon let out a pained groan. A strangely reassuring sound to Rinoa, that at least told her he was going to be okay.

Almost immediately, the world spun again. She brought a hand to her forehead, as her head from filled with static. Her senses felt overwhelmed as she lost the short-lived strength the potion gave her and dropped to the ground.

Leon opened his eyes. The world around him was a swirl of colors at first, but his vision rapidly improved and he was quickly able to make out Rinoa kneeling above him. Leon forced himself to sit up and caught her before she could fall over.

“Rinoa? What happened?”

Rinoa seemed to stare right through him, too exhausted to notice the question. “Good morning.” Rinoa said.

Leon looked up at the night sky for a moment. “Good evening,” he said dryly.

Rinoa was almost too exhausted to laugh at Leon’s correction. The extra energy from a moment ago already completely depleted. “Sorry, if I worried you,” she said. “I didn’t have the energy to cast cure on the both of us, and I couldn’t just leave you unconscious on the ground. So, I drank one of your potions to help me cast the spell.”

Leon looked shocked. “You drank a potion? But I thought—”

“It was either that or leave you lying on the ground.” Rinoa said. “I’m more surprised you haven’t gotten mad at me for casting cure on you.”

“I was unconscious. So, it’s not like I could drink a potion even if you handed it to me. You did the responsible thing.”

“I’m glad…” Rinoa mumbled. She’d closed her eyes at some point while Leon was talking and found it surprisingly difficult to open them now. “I didn’t want to upset you, but I wasn’t sure what else to do.”

Leon stood up gently, taking care not to disturb her. “Just relax. I’m okay now, thanks to you. So just rest.”

She’d finally found the energy to look at him and gave a weary smile. “Hey, you remember what you said about people passing out from overusing magic? I definitely believe you about that one now.” And then promptly passed out.

***

Rinoa walked among the row of injured people. The Heartless’s arrivals frequently waxed and waned on different days. But tonight, there were far more appearing than usual.

Rinoa would’ve preferred fighting, but people skilled with white magic was rare. So barring Merlin, everyone capable of casting cure was situated in the First District to take care of the injured.

“Leon, I need you to work with me here.”

Rinoa’s ears perked up as she heard Aerith’s voice speak. She looked over to see Leon lying on the ground, his back propped up against a wall. He weakly pushed away Aerith’s glowing green hands from his body.

“I-I’ll be fine…”

“You will not! Stop trying to look tough and just let me cast cure on you.”

“Save your energy for someone else. I don’t need it.”

Aerith looked ready to yell at Leon but was stopped when Rinoa placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let me talk to him, Aerith. You go help somebody else.”

Aerith let out a frustrated sigh as she got up. “Hopefully you can talk some sense into him,” she said before walking away.

Rinoa grimaced as she looked at Leon. The side of his white shirt underneath the familiar leather jacket was stained red. Leon’s breathing was heavy, but she reassured herself that, if nothing else, his breathing was at least still even and untroubled.

The sight was nothing if not unpleasant to look at. Rinoa looked away. Her eyes caught Aerith’s form behind her, talking to another person in need of healing. She still looked annoyed from the conversation she’d had with Leon.

Rinoa turned back to Leon. “She doesn’t know?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Leon shook his head.

“Have you had a potion yet?”

He gave a small nod and pulled an empty bottle from his pocket. “Should be working soon. I just… I just need a minute before I go back.”

Rinoa nodded. “I’ll wait here until it takes effect. Then I’ll tell Aerith I eventually convinced you.”

Leon looked at her. Really looked. His gaze seemed to say a million things that he couldn’t verbalize. After a long enough silence, he simply nodded.

“How bad are things?” Rinoa asked hesitantly.

Leon paused as he considered the question. “I’ve… seen worse.” Rinoa noticed how Leon avoided eye contact as his hand reached for the metal lion necklace he wore.

Rinoa smiled sadly. “Yeah, I guess we all have.” She said, forcing herself to resist the urge to cast cure on him. She hated seeing him injured, especially like this, but she respected Leon’s commitment enough not to try and force him. _Besides,_ she told herself, _he’s already taken a potion. So, it would be pointless to cast cure on him now._

They waited together as the potions effect started to kick in and his wound began to heal. A look of relief filled his face as he let out a relaxed breath through formerly gritted teeth.

“I’m gonna let Aerith know you’re healed,” Rinoa began, “but if you’re not ready yet, don’t be ashamed to give yourself a few more minutes.”

Rinoa got up, but barely left Leon’s side before he grabbed her by the arm.

Even through the arm warmers she wore, his grip was firm. But it wasn’t uncomfortable or painful. Just one pull and Leon’s fingers would lose their grip on her.

“I… I just want to say…” Leon stammered, trying to will the words on his lips to come out. He hated having to be open with his feelings and reveal that he wasn’t as unfeeling as he tried to appear to be.

“You’re welcome.”

Leon’s grip relaxed and fell back to his side. He sat silently, wondering how he managed to get his message to her.

Rinoa giggled. “You were also starting to turn red, Leon.”

Immediately Leon’s face hardened, and possibly turned redder. But before Leon could mentally collapse in on himself, Rinoa spoke again.

“I should go. Lots of people to check on, you know?”

“R-right…” Leon said and watched as she walked away.

 _Maybe next time,_ he thought to himself, his mind drifting back to their first time teaming up, _I should be the one to ask for back-up._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reaching all the way to the end! I did not expect this to get as long as it did. But I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you did, I hope you'll leave me a kudos or even a comment of your thoughts. Either way, take care of yourself and thanks again for reading!


End file.
